The
Flames and Oilers will
play each other six
times this season, up
from the five games a
campaign that has been
the norm over the past
few years.

If
the Flames had their way
they'd play the Oilers
82 times a year, as the
provincial battle always
seems to bring the best
out of the club.

Truth
be know, this one didn't
end the way the Flames
would have liked - a 2-1
overtime loss to their
hosts - but man, what a
heck of a hockey game.

McAmmond

Reinprecht

Iginla

Saprykin

Lombardi

Clark

Lowry

Conroy

Kobasew

Oliwa

Betts

Clark

Ference

Lydman

Leopold

Regehr

Gauthier

Warrener

The
Oilers opened the
scoring on a turn over
in their own end.

Chuck
Kobasew had a good
chance blocked, sending
the play the other way.

The
struggling Craig Conroy
let his check, Mike York
go, and it was York who
converted a rebound to
tuck a back hander past
Jamie McLennan.

The
Flames carried the play
for the rest of the
period, out shooting the
Oilers by a margin of
12-5 and really only got
in trouble when being
forced to kill the only
two penalties of the
period.

The
second period was an
intense chapter with
both teams dialing up
the physical play a
notch or two.

Calgary
rearguard Rhett Warrener
seemed to be in the
middle of all of it,
either serving
punishment to Oilers in
the Calgary zone or
absorbing the impact
himself.

The
Flames tied the score
with three minutes left
in the period when
Matthew Lombardi notched
his 6th goal of the
season and his fourth on
the club's four game
road trip.

Lombardi
picked up the puck
behind the Oilers goal,
sidestepped linemate
Oleg Saprykin, slipped
around the cage and
fired a backhander
through Ty Conklin's
pads on a wrap around.

The last
couple of minutes of the
second was an
on-the-edge-of-your-seat
offering that featured a
full court press by the
Flames and a blown three
on one by the Oilers.

The
third period was a
careful one with both
teams fittering away
powerplay chances and
failing to get traffic
in front of the opposing
net.

One
almost had a feeling
that one of those all
important, potential
season turning moments
occured with just over
two minutes left on the
clock when Steve Staios
was sent off for
holding.

A
powerplay goal at that
point sends the Flames
home with a win, a .500
road trip, and a sense
that things are looking
up.

Instead
defenceman Andrew
Ferrence self destructed
with three gastly plays
including a blown keep
in, a brutal pass and
then falling down and
almost gift wrapping an
Oiler winner.

The
overtime featured some
great end to end action
with the Oilers winning
it with just 15 seconds
left on the clock.

The
Flames had a good chance
turned back creating a
two on two with Robyn
Regehr playing the
passing Mike York and
forward Shean Donovan
lining up Ryan Smyth.
Smyth got away on
Donovan and tipped it
home.

SCOREBOARD

OILERS

2

FLAMES

1

1) Mike
York -
Goal and an
overtime
assist.

2) Rhett
Warrener -
Solid in his
own zone, and
a real force
with the
physical side
of his game.

3) Ryan
Smyth -
Held at bay
all night, but
an overtime
winner gets
him the nod.

Rhett
Warrener saved
the day in the
second period
when he slid
across the
crease and
blocked a
rebound that
had net
written all
over it. Later
in the period,
Oiler forward
Dvorak did the
same to foil
Dean
McAmmond.

Tough call in a
game like this
... but you have
to give it to
Rhett Warrener
for his presence
in so many hits
in both
directions. ...
Tempting to toss
it M.C.
Bergeron's way
though, his hit
and miss butt
check was very
memorable.

Those
special teams
are confusing!
Hockey Night
in Canada
colour man
Greg Millen
twice confused
a the
powerplay with
penalty
killing during
the first
period of
action. First
he proclaimed
the Flames to
have the 28th
rank powerplay
in the league
when he
uttered
"tough to
score when
your powerplay
is ranked
28th".
Later when
Raffe Torres
was turned
back on an
attempted
powerplay
breakaway pass
he spoke to
the Oilers
desire to
attack while
killing a
penalty. Mr.
Millen was
probably just
reeling with
the lack of
Canucks on the
ice. ...
Martin Gelinas
showed up on
HNIC after
forty minutes
and presented
both Don
Cherry and Ron
MacLean each
with the
Flames new red
jersey. ...
The Flames
finished up
their road
trip with a
1-2-0-1 record
and three
points in four
games. Woulda,
coulda,
shoulda is for
losers, but
truth be known
the Flames
were likely
the better
team in all
four contests.
They had
better find a
way to turn
play into
points or that
won't matter
much. ... Case
in point? The
Flames out
shot the
Oilers by a
31-14 margin
in this one -
hardly the
statistic that
usually winds
up in a loss.
On the trip
the Flames
held a 139 -
97 edge in
shots or an
average edge
of 35-24. ...
The Flames
didn't give up
a powerplay
goal on the
night, but
didn't score
one themselves
either. ...
There was a
technical
glitch with
the stats feed
coming from
Edmonton as
all web sites
were missing
ice time, face
off and other
categories
after the
game.